Downtown Maryville will host a Spooktacular Extravaganza this Friday night from 6 – 8:30 p.m. (with scheduled times for certain activities.) This is a new event that replaces the annual event that Parks & Rec used to host at the Everett Rec Center. Activities will include trick or treating at downtown businesses, a pet costume contest, & a pumpkin carving contest (additional cost for both contests). Broadway UMC will have a Trunk or Treat, there will be a special Halloween- themed children’s storytime at Vienna Coffeehouse (info on that here), Van Metre School of Dance will have performances of “Thriller,” the Capital Theatre will feature a magic show, Clear’s Silat, Street Kung Fu, & Tai Chi will offer a Zombie Survival House, and much more! You can find more info here.

During the week of November 16 – 22, 2015, all residents of Blount, Cocke, Jefferson, Knox & Sevier Counties can visit any of the 8 Ripley’s attractions in Gatlinburg for just $5/person. Each person must present photo ID & current paycheck stub. $1 from each admission will be donated to Sevier County Food Ministries to purchase food.

UPDATE: The winner is comment #2, Jennifer H.! Thanks to all who entered!

Disney On Ice presents Let’s Celebrate! presented by Stonyfield YoKids Organic Yogurt is bringing a party on ice to Knoxville from October 28 to November 1. There will be seven performances that will take place at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. I have a quick giveaway for you all! First, here’s the official description of the show:

Audiences are invited to make an ordinary day extraordinary and enjoy some of the world’s most popular festivities, including a winter wonderland with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, a Halloween haunt with the Disney Villains, a Hawaiian luau with Lilo and Stitch, a Royal Ball with the Disney Princesses, a Very Merry Unbirthday Party and more in one action-packed and positively unforgettable celebration! Disney On Ice presents Let’s Celebrate! Presented by YoKids features more than 50 characters from 16 Disney stories live on ice, including Tiana from Walt Disney Pictures’ The Princess and the Frog.

If you’d like to go ahead and order tickets without waiting on a giveaway, you can do that here or by calling the box office at 865-656-4444. Make sure use to use the coupon code MOM to save $5 a ticket! Tickets prices start at just $20!

The lovely folks at Feld Entertainment are allowing me to give passes away to one lucky reader! You will receive a family 4-pack of tickets to the 3 p.m. show on Saturday, October 31.

Here’s how to enter:

Leave a comment on this post and let me know if you’ve ever been to Disney on Ice. That’s it! (If you came here from Facebook/Twitter make sure you’re commenting on the actual blog post at thriftychristy.com)

Additional Optional Entries:

You can do each of the following things for an additional entry in the giveaway. You can only do each of these once, for a possible total of 5 entries. Please leave a separate comment for each method of entry. If you only leave one comment then you only have one entry, as each comment is numbered and I randomly choose a number. Make sense?

This giveaway ends at noon EST on Tuesday, October 27. I will choose two winners using random.org and will contact them via email. Giveaway open to US readers only. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Disclaimer: I received passes to Disney on Ice for my family plus additional passes from Feld Entertainment to give away to my readers. Passes will be sent to the winner via US Mail, and I cannot be held responsible for any loss or delivery delay on the part of the mail. Feld Entertainment and The Walt Disney company are neither sponsors nor endorsers of this promotion. All opinions are my own.

Knoxville Zoo will be hosting a special $1 admission event, Dollar Days, on November 12, 13, 14 and 15, 2015. Tickets are on sale now, and there are limited quantities, so you’ll want to pre-purchase.

Here’s how you can purchase get tickets, along with the obligatory fine print:

-Tickets can be purchased online at knoxvillezoo.org until Nov. 10 or the event is sold out.
-Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Knoxville Zoo ticket window during business hours until Nov. 10 or the event is sold out.
-No mail order tickets available.
-Tickets must be purchased in advance.
-No ticket sales will be available at the gate the day of the event.
-Tickets are only good for admission on the date listed on the ticket.
-Limit 10 tickets per order.
-Limited number of tickets available.

The Secret Mountain – a publisher of high-quality books, e-books, and apps for children in French and English -has just released a new book/CD combo called Dreams Are Made for Children: Classic Jazz Lullabies. We recently had the chance to review this book and CD, and truly enjoyed both! Here’s the official info from the publisher:

Sometimes, a little jazz is all a baby needs for a good night’s rest! Adding to their growing catalog of award-winning storybooks with CDs for children, The Secret Mountain will release Dreams Are Made for Children on October 1. The enclosed 35 minute album features twelve popular standards from the golden age of jazz recorded by singing legends Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan and Chet Baker, amongst others. The music was selected by Misja Fitzgerald Michel, a Paris-based jazz musician, and noted children’s illustrator Ilya Green created the colorful images in the 36-page hardcover book.

You can listen to Ella Fitzgerald sing the title song below:

This book is full of wonderful songs to share with your children. My girls really enjoy listening to it as they’re getting ready for bed. I think our favorite song might be “Goodnight My Love,” sung by Sarah Vaughan, but it’s so hard to choose! We have long been fans of Ella Fitgerald & Louis Armstrong in my house, and it was fun to introduce my girls to some other talented artists. Here’s the full song list:

The Blount County Public Library’s quarterly book sale is coming up October 16 & 17, with access to the sale a day early – on Oct. 15 – for Friends of the Library members. We love going to the library’s book sales! This would be a great place to find Christmas presents, which is what I’ll be doing! I like to leave a book path for my children leading from their bedroom door to the tree on Christmas morning, and this sale is where I get most of my books!

One of our favorite events we attend together as a family each year is the 18th Century Trade Faire at Fort Loudoun in Vonore. This year the Trade Faire has been scheduled for October 17 & 18, which should make for perfect weather for this fun event! The hours for the faire will remain the same as past years, with the gates opening to the public at 10:00 a.m. for both days, and the grounds remaining open until 5:00 p.m.

Make sure you bring cash to the trade faire, as there are lots of booths with great merchandise! There are also lots of different performers and demonstrations, including many people in period costume. This is a great event to bring kids to!

Parking is also available at the nearby Sequoyah Birthplace Museum and a free shuttle bus operates between the two as a convenience for visitors.

Admission costs for the event is as follows:

18th century Trade Faire at Fort Loudoun
$8 – Adults (13 and up)
Children 12 and under admitted free

The generous folks at Fort Loudoun have two free tickets to the Trade Faire to give away to you all! If you’d like to win, head to the Thrifty Christy Facebook page and look for the above photo to enter!

This giveaway ends at midnight EST on Tuesday, October 6. I will choose four winners on Wednesday, October 7 using random.org and will contact them via email. Giveaway open to US readers only.

Disclosure: I received passes to the Trade Faire for my family plus two additional passes to share with my readers. All opinions stated in this post are my own.